You're My World
"You're My World" is a ballad originally recorded in 1963 as "Il Mio Mondo" ("My World") by Umberto Bindi, who co-wrote the Italian-language version with Gino Paoli. Rendered with English lyrics by Carl Sigman as "You're My World", the song has reached No. 1 in Australia (twice), Belgium, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa and United Kingdom via recordings by Cilla Black, Daryl Braithwaite, Guys 'n' Dolls and Helen Reddy. (Black's and Reddy's versions reached the US Top 40 in 1964 and 1977, respectively.) The song also went to No. 1 in France and Spain via the respective translations "Ce monde" and "Mi Mundo", both sung by Richard Anthony. 1960s hit versions Cilla Black Although the original Italian version by composer Umberto Bindi was not a hit, even in Italy, the song came to the attention of UK record producer George Martin, who commissioned an English version to be recorded by his protégée Cilla Black. The English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman whose son Michael Sigman would recall: "Inspired by Umberto Bindi's haunting melody, Carl evoked Gino Paoli's Italian title ('Il Mio Mondo' or 'My World'). But he created a wholly original English lyric". Black cut the song "You're My World" — as Carl Sigman entitled his English language rendering of "Il Mio Mondo" - in a 3 April 1964 session at Abbey Road Studios with Johnny Pearson conducting his orchestra and The Breakaways providing background vocals. Black has said that her road manager and future husband Bobby Willis also sang on the track. Judd Proctor was the lead guitarist on the session which also featured drummer Kenny Clare. "You're My World" reached No. 1 in Britain on the chart dated 30 May 1964 and remained there for a total of four weeks, one week more than Black's preceding single "Anyone Who Had a Heart". Although Black returned to the UK Top Ten eight times, the song was her final No. 1 hit. Black's "You're My World" was also No. 1 in Australia for two weeks that July when it also spent three weeks at No. 2 in New Zealand, while in South Africa the disc was the second biggest hit for the year 1964. A Top Twenty hit in Denmark and a Top Thirty hit in The Netherlands, the track also reached No. 12 in Canada, No. 2 in Ireland, No. 8 in Norway and No. 7 in Sweden. "You're My World" was the first track by Black to be released in the US, where the singer was signed to Capitol Records. Peaking at No. 26 in August 1964, the song was Black's only Top 40 hit in the United States. She also reached number four on the Easy Listening chart. An alternative take from the recording sessions which yielded the Cilla Black hit version of "You're My World" was later issued, with the opening notes being likened to be the sound of musicians tuning up. Both the 1964 versions, however, remain faithful to Bindi's strong vocal delivery and the instrumentation of his original recording in Italian. Black remade the song in 1985 for her Surprisingly Cilla album and then again in 1993 for her Through the Years album; both tracks attempted to capture the original's orchestral quality via synthesizers. Over the Christmas season of 2008 Black came out of retirement for her professional swansong playing the Fairy Godmother in the Cinderella panto at the Liverpool Empire Theatre, each presentation of which would conclude with Black joined by her castmates in a performance of You're My World. Reportedly when the hearse bearing Black's body arrived at St Mary's Church, Woolton for her 20 August 2015 funeral mass, "hundreds of fans broke into Cilla's 1964 hit 'You're My World'". The grave marker beneath the headstone on Black's burial plot in Allerton Cemetery in enscribed with the second and third stanzas of "You're My World": lyrics from Black's hits "Step Inside Love" and "Alfie" also appear on the marker. (The black marble headstone and marker were installed 18 April 2016 some eight months after Black's 1 August 2015 passing: following the December 2015 theft of its original bronze nameplate Black's grave remained unmarked until drier weather permitted the installation of the marble headstone and marker.) On 16 January 2017 a bronze statue of Cilla Black was unveiled on Mathew Street in Liverpool being positioned outside the entrance of the Cavern Club where Black was discovered: Black is represented standing on an oversize depiction of a 45" single copy of "You're My World". Personnel *Cilla Black – vocals *The Breakaways – backing vocals *Bobby Willis – backing vocals Also Subsequent to the success of Cilla Black's "You're My World" in the English-speaking world, Richard Anthony recorded a translation for release in France as "Ce Monde", which was No. 1 for six weeks in the summer of 1964 and that autumn reached No. 3 in Belgium (Wallonia). Anthony also made the song a hit in its original Italian format, taking "Il Mio Mondo" into the Italian charts for the first time with a No. 20 peak in 1964/5. Anthony, who recorded the English rendition under the title "You Are My World", also reached No. 1 in Spain in January 1965 with the rendering "Mi Mundo" which afforded Anthony a concurrent Top Ten hit in Argentina despite a local version by Juan Ramón (es) - entitled "En Mi Mundo" - having reached the Argentine Top 20 in the autumn of 1964. Paris-based German-born songstress Ria Bartok (fr) recorded "Ce Monde" for a four track EP released by Columbia/EMI (France) in September 1964: that same month the track was issued as 7" single Pathé 77-519 in Canada where it reached No. 1 on that nation's French-language chart. Bartok also included "Mi Mundo" on a Spanish-language EP she recorded. "Ce Monde" was also featured on the 1965 album release Ria Bartok Pathé PAM 67.214 The success of the Cilla Black version of "You're My World" in South Africa did not preclude the success of a local cover version by Ray Walter which rose as high as No. 2 on South Africa's weekly hit parade. The Finnish language rendering of "You're My World" entitled "Olet kaikki" has become a pop music standard in Finland due to its success on the Finnish hit parade as recorded by Johnny Liebkind (fi) on October 26, 1968. 1970s hit versions Helen Reddy "You're My World" became a Top 20 hit in the US in 1977 via a remake by Helen Reddy introduced on Ear Candy, her ninth studio album, whose February 1977 recording at Brother Studios in Santa Monica was helmed by veteran producer Kim Fowley with the assistance of Earle Mankey with arranging/conducting duties carried out by David Carr. Ritchie Blackmore has been credited with playing guitar on Reddy's recording of "You're My World":Observer-Reporter May 11, 1977 p. 37 Deep Purple, the group Blackmore had fronted, had been managed by Jeff Wald who in 1977 was Helen Reddy's manager and husband (Blackmore's name does not appear in the official credits listed on the Ear Candy album). Although Reddy's eighth studio album Music, Music (1976) had been certified gold, its second single release "Gladiola" had been Reddy's first ''Billboard'' Hot 100 shortfall since her 1971 Hot 100 debut with "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (of Reddy's fifteen 1971-76 Hot 100 entries all but two had reached the Top 20 affording her ten Top 20 hits). Jeff Wald, then Reddy's husband and manager, would state in 1977: "Helen has enough hits to be established in the public mind...but it still shakes you when you're suddenly not on the charts".Los Angeles Times 21 February 1977 View section p. 12 Wald therefore had not wanted Reddy's ninth studio album to be (quote) "just another Helen Reddy album: I let it be known on the street that whoever came to me with the right material, with a hit song, was going to produce Helen Reddy"..."I wanted hit singles and something a little different":Record World Vol 35 #1581 (22 October 1977) pp. 39, 43"I called every publisher in town: listened to 800-900 songs";"I let a dozen producers walk into this office and play me a song. I called Kim Fowley and let him know I would like to hear from him, what his ideas were and of all the guys who walked into my office he had the most material that I liked":"He played me five songs, four of which I liked immediately". Reddy would recall singing along to radio play of Cilla Black's 1964 hit version of "You're My World": (quote) "When it was suggested 1977 as a track for me to record, I leapt like a trout to the fly." (2006) The Woman I Am: The Definitive Collection by Helen Reddy booklet. Los Angeles: Capitol Records 09463-57613-2-0 Reddy gave her debut televised performance of "You're My World" on the 6 May 1977 broadcast of The Midnight Special. During the year 1977 Reddy promoted "You're My World" via performances on five episodes of The Tonight Show. A smash hit in Chicago (chart peak: #4), Reddy's "You're My World" otherwise failed to break in any first-tier metropolitan market: the track did reach #1 in Buffalo - where WKBW-AM would rank "You're My World" as the #5 hit of 1977 - and received moderate support in a number of regional markets, reaching a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 peak of #18 in July 1977. "You're My World" was thus Reddy's highest charting single since "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady" almost two years previously, besting the #29 peak of "I Can't Hear You No More" the lead single off Reddy's precedent Music, Music album: however "You're My World" would prove to be Reddy's last Top 40 hit. With a debut on the Hot 100 dated 30 April 1977 and final appearance 24 September 1977, "You're My World" ties with Reddy's signature #1 hit "I am Woman" as the singer's longest-running Hot 100 hit. Commenting on the lengthy chart tenure of the Top Ten shortfall "You're My World", Jeff Wald would state: "As busy as Records are with ten or eleven acts with chart hits they didn't lose the Helen Reddy record, they didn't give up on it...There's not many labels that would stay with the record of an established artist, not a new artist that they're trying to break, stay with a record for nineteen so weeks like that and pound it and pound it and pound it." "You're My World" fell short of "I Can't Hear You No More"' #1 peak on the ''Billboard'' Easy Listening Top 50 which afforded "You're My World" a peak of #5: however "You're My World" would overall be a more substantial Easy Listening hit than "I Can't Hear You...", as evidenced by Billboard ranking "You're My World" as the #12 Easy Listening hit for the year 1977:Billboard, vol. 89 no. 51, 24 December 1977, p. 76 "I Can't Hear You..." had placed on Billboard's annual Easy Listening tally for 1976 at #39.Billboard, 25 December 1976 Reddy would place seven more tracks in the Easy Listening Top 50, the most successful of which was her 1978 remake of "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" (peak #12). "You're My World" also reached number #13 on the Canadian pop chart. The potential for further international success for Reddy's version of "You're My World" was narrowed by the concurrent release of a remake by UK pop group Guys 'n' Dolls which was a #1 hit in the Netherlands and Flemish Belgium: although the Guys 'n' Dolls version was unsuccessful in the British Isles its release there did cause Capitol UK to make ''Ear Candy's lead single the track "Long Distance Love" with "You're My World" as B-side, while in the Netherlands Reddy's co-write "Midnight Skies" was the choice for single (with "Long Distance Love" as B-side) with neither local release affording Reddy any success. In Reddy's native Australia a remake of "You're My World" had been a #1 hit in January 1975 for Daryl Braithwaite factoring into the Australian release of the spring 1977 Australian release of Reddy's version being unsuccessful. "You're My World" did afford Reddy a #1 hit in Mexico, with the track remaining in that nation's Top Ten from October 1977 to March 1978. Reddy's 1978 concert album Live in London - recorded at the London Palladium - features the singer performing "You're My World". Chart performance Also Daryl Braithwaite of Sherbet remade "You're My World" as his first solo recording; released in October 1974 the track entered the Australian chart dated November 11, 1974 following Braithwaite's performing of "You're My World" on the debut episode of the iconic Australian pop music show Countdown broadcast November 8, 1974. Produced by Tweed Harris, Braithwaite's "You're My World" spent the first three weeks of 1975 at No. 1 on the Australian chart. It was Braithwaite's version of "You're My World" that inspired a young Tina Arena who heard her sister's copy of Braithwaite's single; Arena's impromptu performance of "You're My World" at a wedding led to her launching her performing career at age 7 on the TV show "Young Talent Time". However Arena has never recorded "You're My World". Daryl Braithwaite remade "You're My World" for his 2008 album The Lemon Tree which featured acoustic remakes of several of his hits. Prior to the massive success of the Helen Reddy version of "You're My World" in Mexico that territory had afforded hit status to a version of the song's Spanish rendering, "Eres mi mundo" having given Grupo Yndio (es) their career record in 1976. A remake of "You're My World" by the British group Guys 'n' Dolls was overlooked in the UK but reached No. 1 in the Netherlands for four weeks in May and June 1977 with a #4 ranking on the year-end tally for the Netherlands' hit parade:Billboard Vol 90 #3 (21 January 1978) p. 116 the track also reached No. 1 in Belgium and was a minor hit in Germany (No. 48) (in its release in the two last-named territories the track was identified as "You Are My World"). Paul Griggs sang lead on the Guys 'n' Dolls version of "You're My World" with Martine Howard's vocals also prominently featured. Other recorded versions of the song |- |- | Maria Candido fr '*French || EP Disques Festival FX 1392 M || 1995 || PJ Powers || on her album ''Woman of Africa MFM PJCD 3002 |- | Michel Cogoni fr '*French || EP Philips 434.920 BE || 1996 || Alain Urban fr '*French || Phenix Music – 373304 A-side is "Vivre Seul" |- | Robert Demontigny fr '*French|| on his album ''Un baiser pour toi Trans-Canada TF 337 || rowspan="4" |1997 || rowspan="2" | Sam Brown || rowspan="2" | track featured on her single "I Forgive You" Demon Records D2002CD & as bonus track on Japanese release of her album Box Crown/Loudwoof LRCL-4023 |- | Gloria Lasso '*French || on her album ''Canta en Frances Musart D 991 |- | Angelina Monti de '*Italian || Telefunken #? 1978 is estimated year of recording/ release. || Garry Hagger nl || on his album ''My Life Paradiso PA 670 2 |- | Shirley Zwerus || Imperial IH 610 B-side is "Who Knows Why" || Raff Vetrugno '*Italian || Polygram PY901 B-side is "Il mio mondo" (instrumental) |- | rowspan="5" | 1965 || Heidi Bruhl || on her album ''Verliebt Wie Du Und Ich Philips 843 734 PY | rowspan="3" |1998 || rowspan="2" |Jane McDonald | rowspan="2" |on her album Jane McDonald Focus Music Int'l Ltd FMCD1: track features Hank Marvin on guitar |- | António Calvário '*French || EP A Voz Do Dono 7 LEM 3150 |- | Michel Louvain '*French || on the album Gala 65 Avec Margot Et Michel La Compagnie Campo Ltée CT-33310 || Ivy Violan tl *'Tagalog || on her album ''Hanggang Ngayon Viva Records Corporation #? |- | Kirsti Sparboe '*Norwegian || Triola TN 245 B-side is "Gaar omkring i solen" || 1999 || Tuba Önal '*Turkish || on her album Onun adı aşk |- | Anita Traversi '*German || Ariola 18208 B-side is "Fast zu spät" || rowspan="4" | 2000 || Frans Bauer & Marianne Weber nl '*Dutch || on their album Wat Ik Zou Willen Tiptop TTC 22332 |- | rowspan="3" |1966 || The British Modbeats || Red Leaf TTM625 B-side of "Love's Just a Broken Heart" || Dreamlovers || on their album 15 Hits CNR Music 2103130 |- | Vince Hill || on his album Heartaches Columbia – SX 6046 || Stig Rossen || on his album Stories Polydor 07 3145 47806 2 |- | Elvira Voća '*Croatian || on her EP ''Kupi mi malo cvijeca Jugoton EPY 3557 || Renato Zero || on his album Tutti gli zeri del mondo Fonopoli/Sony Music FON 498489 |- | rowspan="2" |1967 || Glen Campbell || on his album Gentle on My Mind Capitol ST 2809 || rowspan="2" | 2001 || Alison Jiear || on her album Forgiveness' Embrace Dress Circle DAD0072 |- | Britt Bergström sv '*Swedish || Scan Disc SC 1073 B-side is "Romeo och Jula" || Ornella Vanoni '*Italian || on her album E Poi...la Tua Bocca Da Bacciare Epic 50 9975 04972 2 7 |- | 1968 || Dionne Warwick || on her album Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls Scepter 568 || 2002 || George Salinas || on his album 20 Love Songs Mouse Music Company 120300-1 |- | rowspan="2" |1969 || Norro Wilson || on his album Dedicated to: Only You Smash SRS-67116 || rowspan="3" |2003 || Los Angeles de Charly '*Spanish || on their album ''Recuerdos Fonovisa 350872 |- | Miranda Martino '*Italian || Victory Records – VY 020 B-side is "Stagione" || Anita Sarawak || on her album ''Love Me EMI Music Distribution 541845 |- | rowspan="3" |1970 || Roy Drusky || on his album All My Hard Times Mercury MCR 4 61306 || Franco Simone '*Italian || on his album ''Dizionario (Rosso) Dei Sentimenti Azzura 907816 |- | Buddy Greco || on his album Let the Sunshine In Wand WNS 3 || rowspan="2" |2004 || Bouke nl|| on his album A Song For Love CD Hal C45924 |- | Terry Rice Milton || CBS 5101 B-side: "Sure Enough Baby" || El Chalinillo '*Spanish || on his album ''Mientras viva EMI Music Distribution 50059 |- | 1971 || Tom Jones || on his album Tom Jones Sings She's a Lady Decca SKL5089 (UK)/Parrot XPAS 71046 (US) || rowspan="2" |2005 || Laura Gissara || on album Australian Idol Final 13: Australian Made - The Hits Sony Music Distribution 674719 |- | rowspan="2" |1973 || Judy Page af || on her album Portrait Aztec ACL 11000 || Marcie Jones || on her album Here I Am CDBY 60017 |- | Frances Yip || on her album Frances Yip's Target Hits Life Records FA 6 || rowspan="3" |2006 || Claudio Baglioni *'Italian || on his album ''Quelli degli altri tutti qui Sony BMG srl 08 2876 89732 7 1 |- | rowspan="2" |1974 || Birthe Kjær '*Danish || on her album ''Tennessee Waltz Philips 6318 023 || Julie Dingman Evans, Marie-France Arcilla tl || on Shout! The Mod Musical cast recording Rhino 74791 medley with "All I See is You" |- | Wizex '*Swedish || on their album ''Skratta & le Starec SR 2001 || Patrizio Buanne '*Italian || on his album ''Forever Begins Tonight UMTV 1707174 |- | rowspan="6" |1977 || Howard Carpendale || on his album Jede Farbe ist schön Electrola 066-32 082 || rowspan="5" | 2007 || Amy Cruz tl || on her album Remember My Name Able Music Int'l #? |- | rowspan="2" | Matti & Teppo fi/ '*Finnish || rowspan="2" | on their album ''Sait mitä hait M&T Productions MTLP-8/ single release M&T Productions MTHLP-1009 A-side is "Pää pyörälle" || The Dakotas || on their album Evolution Maximus Records #? |- | Pentti Hietanen fi/ '*Finnish || on his album ''Con Amore Capitol/EMI 946 3 86663 25 |- | Anneli Pasanen fi/ '*Finnish || on her album ''Rakastan jokaista päivää CBS 82423 || Isabela/ '*Spanish || on her album ''Porque Te Vas Disa B000NJLLZQ |- | Kari Tapio '*Finnish || on his album ''Kaipuu Scandia SLP 643 || Antonella Ruggiero '*Italian || on her album ''Genova, la Superba Libera 0186882 |- |Claude Valade '*French || on her album ''Ce monde Telson AE-1513 || rowspan="5" |2008 || AK-7 '*Spanish || on their album ''Renaciendo Fonovisa 353692 |- | rowspan="3" |1978 || Eve Bridger || on her EP The World of Eve Bridger Hillside HIL EP 4009 || Jade Adams || on her EP Forever & a Day Everyday Records #? |- | Mike Fabian || EMI Columbia 1C 006-32 947 A-side is "Was Der Sommer Weiss..." || Natasha Hamilton & Kush || on Liverpool – The Number Ones Album EMI 50999 5 19522 2 8 |- | Jimmy Crawford || on his album Close Encounters Jacklyne Productions – JPR 1061 1978 is estimated year of recording/ release. || Marko Lämsä fi '*Finnish || on his album ''Olet Kaikki Suomen Mediamusiikki Oy #? |- | 1979 || Johnny Rodriguez || on his album Rodriguez Was Here Mercury – SRM-1-5015 || Anke Pietrangeli || on her album Tribute to the Great Female Vocalists EMI #? |- | 1980 || Tracy Nelson || on her album Come See About Me Flying Fish FF209 || rowspan="3" |2009 || Alexia '*Italian || on her album ''Ale & C Edel 845753 |- | rowspan="3" |1981 || Barry Crocker || on his album You're My World JB 084 C || Morgan '*Italian || on his album ''Italian Songbook, Vol. 1 Columbia 08 8697 49561 2 9 |- |Joe Harris nl duet with Chrissy || on his album 25 Jaar Gnome GD 29011 GL || El Trono de Mexico '*Spanish || on their album ''Reunion entre amigos Skalona Records SKAL6900 |- | Iva Zanicchi '*Spanish || on her album ''Nostalgias Epic EPC 32396 || rowspan="3" |2010 || Jane McDonald || on her album Live at the London Palladium JMD Records JANEMCD 2 |- | 1982 || François Deguelt '*French|| EP ''French Medley - Pot-Pourri Anglais JPF FD 4.12.17 | Christian Delagrange fr/ '*French || on his album ''Histoires d'amour Play It Again Sam 35 9697 22913 2 6 |- | rowspan="2" |1985 || Umberto Bindi '*Italian || on his album ''Bindi Arison TAR 12422 as a duet with Loredana Bertè || Pate Mustajärvi '*Finnish || on album ''Reino & Aino – Rakkaustarina Motley MOTCD 223 |- | Claudette Dion fr '*French || on her album ''Hymnes à l'amour volume 2 Les Productions TBS – TBS 502 || rowspan="4" |2011 || The Borderers || on their album Tales of Love & Loss+Rise Up! Celtic Records 9330938001307 |- | 1987 || Michèle Torr '*French || on her album ''Chansons de toujours AZ 105112 || Mary Byrne || on her album Mine & Yours Sony Music 88697869142 |- | 1988 || Jorma Kalevi fi/ '*Finnish || JKS 103 A-side is "Si Si Si" || Janene Lovullo || on her album ''This Moment |- | rowspan="2" |1989 || Lisa Nilsson || on her album Lean on Love RCA 74321 10992 2 (BMG) || Denisse Malebrán '*Italian || on her album ''Mi Caravana Oveja Negra 5903340 track is a duet with Camilo Salinas es |- | Rose-Marie || on her album The Rose-Marie Party Album Telstar STAR-2374 || 2012 || Boy George '*Italian || on EP recorded as charity record to benefit the Marie Curie hospices |- | 1990 || Bles Bridges || on his album ''Let Me Love You Brigadiers – BRIGL 2035 || rowspan="3" | 2014 || Ilkka Koivula '*Finnish || on his album ''Wichita LM TurenkiCD-14200-25 |- | rowspan="3" |1991 || rowspan="2" | Kikki Danielsson '*Swedish | rowspan="2" | on her album ''Vägen hem till dej Sweden Music/ Universal Music 849 064-2 2564605085 | Sheridan Smith || soundtrack of Cilla |- | Zdzisława Sośnicka '*Polish || on her compilation album ''Zaśpiewane Niewydane / Musicals Polskie Nagrania Muza – PNCD 1584 A/B |- | Topi Sorsakoski '*Finnish || on his album ''Yksinäisyys Parlophone 777-798268 || rowspan="2" |2015 || Amaury Vassili '*French || on his album ''Chansons Populaires Warner B0153OW0IC |- | 1993 || Joe Dolan || on his album Here and Now K-Tel – KLP 150 || Rose-Marie || on her album My Gift of Love For You Sapphire #? |- | 1994 Elvis Presley kept a copy of the Cilla Black single of "You're My World" in his personal jukebox. When the Beatles visited Presley at his Bel Air home on 27 August 1965 the group jammed with Presley in an impromptu rendition of "You're My World": reportedly the song was deemed a tribute to Presley's intended wife Priscilla Beaulieu, as its singer Cilla Black's full first name was Priscilla. Miss America 1986 Susan Akin - Miss Mississippi 1985 - sang "You're My World" in the talent competition of the Miss America Pageant broadcast on NBC 14 September 1985 from Convention Hall in Atlantic City.Milwaukee Journal, 15 September 1985, p. 2 References Category:1964 singles Category:Song recordings produced by George Martin Category:1977 singles Category:Parlophone singles Category:Dionne Warwick songs Category:Cilla Black songs Category:Helen Reddy songs Category:Kikki Danielsson songs Category:Glen Campbell songs Category:UK Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in Belgium Category:Songs written by Carl Sigman Category:1963 songs Category:Songs written by Umberto Bindi